Kirkcaldy Cake (Black Forest Gâteau)

We are finally in full-blown fruit season in Scotland and I'm taking advantage of that. I currently have my eye on raspberries, redcurrants, pears and early brambles but today's recipe uses cherries (including homemade cherry jam and homemade cherry liqueur).

I made the cherry liqueur using the fruit and the stones of cherries. This adds a delicious almondy flavour and is the reason I call it 'Bakewell Tart' Liqueur.

I picked the cherries in Kirkcaldy, Fife, and decided to pair them with dark chocolate Toblerone to complement the almondy flavour of the liqueur.

Kirkcaldy Cake

(Nothing like Dundee Cake)

Ingredients:

225g cherries (weighed with stones removed)

500ml double cream

200ml creme fraiche

4 tablespoons Kirsch (cherry liqueur)

2 tablespoons cold water

100ml boiling water

100g cherry jam

25g cocoa

300g plain flour

2 eggs

200g dark Toblerone

375g caster sugar

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

Pinch of salt

Method:

Heat oven to 180°C

Grease and line two sandwich tins.

Heat butter & 75g Toblerone over a low heat, stirring until the chocolate is melted. Remove from heat.

Mix together the flour, sugar, cocoa, bicarbonate of soda and salt.

Whisk together eggs and creme fraiche.

Add chocolate and egg mixtures to the flour mixture and add the boiling water. Mix until smooth.

Divide mixture between 2 sandwich tins and bake for 25-50mins (my oven is wonky but just check with a skewer - pierce the cake and if the skewer comes out clean then they're ready).

Mix the water and liqueur together.

Pierce the top of each cake a few times and drizzle the liqueur mixture evenly over each cake.

Allow to cool.

Heat 200ml of double cream until almost simmering. 

Pour hot cream over remaining Toblerone and mix until chocolate is all melted.

Mix together the jam and cherries.

Gently whisk the remaining cream with the icing sugar.

Layer: cake, cream, jam, cake and then cover in the chocolate cream.

Eat in small portions - it's wicked!

Until next time, Good Foraging xx

Gorse Blossom & Blackthorn Blossom Liqueurs

Today started out with the sun shining, so I grabbed the dog and headed up to the local country park for a little Spring foraging. I wasn't disappointed. As we turned a corner, a breeze brought with it the coconut-scent of Gorse. The smell set my mind off on an adventure...

Gorse in bloom

On a previous forage, I picked Blackthorn blossom and mixed it with coconut rum, in an experimental attempt to make a Digestif for a curry. I was worried that the low alcohol content of the rum (20%) would restrict the blackthorn from imparting its flavour. Now I was thinking *what if I used Gorse flowers with a neutral-alcohol base and make a coconut-flavour spirit? That would mean I could use a higher abv and perhaps use this as my coconut base for future experimentation with Blackthorn.*

Experience has taught me that when my mind does this kind of thinking, it's best just to follow and to ask questions later, so I followed.

I picked a few handfuls of Gorse blossom, Gorse is notoriously protective of its blossom and has a tendency to grow spines just underneath the flowers you want to pick. I think that it is in collusion with Sea Buckthorn in this regard. I find that the easiest way to pick Gorse flowers, if you aren't wearing thick gloves, is to pinch out the blossoms at the very tip of the branch - there tend to be less spines here. Please note that I say less, this is still a dangerous mission.

Gorse Blossom Liqueur Recipe:

Ingredients/equipment:

• A few handfuls of Gorse blossom
• Enough vodka to cover the blossoms
• Mason or other airtight jar

Method:

• Put blossom in jar
• Cover with vodka
• Seal jar.
• Shake the jar every day for 3-4 weeks

Gorse blossom getting cosy with some vodka

It's now been around 4 weeks since I started my Blackthorn blossom liqueur experiment, so today I bottled the liqueur-to-be. With all liqueurs, I strain the pulp through a sieve and then use filter paper in a funnel to strain the liquid. I run the filter paper under the tap, first, as this prevents the liqueur from being absorbed by the paper - this makes the process more efficient and faster.

Blackthorn Blossom Liqueur: the filtration process

Of course, I had a little sample of this while I was bottling it, and I have to say that it is tasting surprisingly good! I hate coconut rum, it reminds me of my misspent youth, but I have to say that I found this concoction quite palatable. The Blackthorn has provided a sweetness in both aroma and taste. I usually sweeten my liqueurs after a month or two in the bottle, but I don't think that this will need any further sweetening. I look forward to having a future sampling session. With curry.

Until we meet again, happy foraging (or whatever else you do). xx